Want to make front brake lever closer to my stubby fingers.

Hi all, does anyone have any ideas in regards to this?

I find that the front brake lever is uncomfortably far away! (See photo.)

Someone suggested giving it a bit of heat and bending the lever itself but I'd rather put some feelers out and see if any other members have had similar problems and/or solutions!

 

Re: Want to make front brake lever closer to my stubby finge

:lol: I was going to say heat it up and bend it in :lol:
You could look for an after market lever with more of an angle back toward the bar.

 

you can buy a less angled lever.
i have the same prob and have seen one or two that would work better.
of course, being the cheap bas$!@rd that i am i would try the bend idea
first.
unless you've done some welding with this metal...remember-aluminum melts FROM THE INSIDE OUT, and what may still
look like solid metal on the outside is prob liquid inside.

good luck

 

Braking is the least of your worries if you're riding around with your arms crossed like that!

 

Adjustable levers! Apparently "all the rage" in the sport bike world...

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/pazzo/ad ... levers.htm

These folks (not recommending, just using as reference) have a wide variety; check ASV, Vortex and Pazzo: http://www.motomummy.com/store/home.php?cat=257

Here's another manufacturer: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... Lever.aspx

Besides coming in a wide range of reeaallly groovy colors, they all seem to have one other thing in common:

They ain't cheap.

The other challenge is finding an application that fits our old-school lever perches, but I'm sure that could be solved.

BTW, I wouldn't try heating and bending the lever; the only time I ever managed to heat one enough to get it soft it melted like a candle. They go from stiff to puddle in about a 10* temp range apparently. Luckily they're cheap so you could fail 8 times and still not cover the cost of an adjustable...

 

Undo the screw on the lever that pushes on the piston. It may flap around a bit, but it will be closer to the bars.

 

Re: Want to make front brake lever closer to my stubby finge

Notice the screw and locking nut arrowed number 1. Undo the nut and loosen the screw until the lever comes further toward you but not enough to hit off the hand grip when squeezing hard.

In order to reduce outward play on the lever, put something in between the gap arrowed number two. There is an epoxy type filler cement that you can get that may do the trick.

 

Don't you know? We drive on the other side of the road to you here in NZ! lol

 

Dermot, it's already quite loose but will have another go at it.

Thanks

 

if you want to bend that lever, or straighten a bent lever
put it in a vice and heat it where you want it to bend, get it good and hot then let it cool for a minute or two put a pipe on it and bend it a little, if you feel it getting harder to bend stop, repeat the heat cool and bend a little more
might take 3 or 4 heatings but it shouldn't break
the heating and cooling anneals the metal,makes it softer, the bending makes it hard again
don't burn your fingers

 

Re: Want to make front brake lever closer to my stubby finge

Has anyone found an adjustable lever for our bikes that they like?

 

Re: Want to make front brake lever closer to my stubby finge

im dealing with this issue as well, for my clutch and brake. i saw a really nice set on a buddies suzuki (similar age/size) that were closer, straight and feather touch. i really want them on my bike. wondering if most (not all) levers are interchangeable, or if i need specific features/etc that fit this bike/cables? or does it go by handlebars, or what? im at work or id look for images of the ones i was talking about from that suzuki but yeah, i feel like im going arthritic at age 30 already from clamping down and reaching for the brake and clutch.

 

Re: Want to make front brake lever closer to my stubby finge

Ive got this issue to with having somewhat short fingers... So if there's some adjustable levers that someone has found please share.

 

Any updates from our riders?

There are some shorty levers popping up for the X's on ebay, but nothing for the pre-85 models that I've found.